The Misadventures of the PT and their Personas
by BlackDomus500
Summary: A story that goes with my other story A Joker's Panther. What do you get when you put a gentleman thief, a seductress, a narcissistic masked swordsman, a pirate, a thief who was boiled alive, a book that's for some reason a ufo, and a masochistic seductress all belonging to a group of trouble teens? Hilarity and drama, of course.
1. King of the Castle

**King of the Castle**

 **{Author's notes: So here you guys go, the story that goes along with A Joker's Panther since people who provided feedback for that story wanted to see what happens with everything that happened with everything not shown. Now for the new readers, I highly suggest reading either A Joker's Panther first or read that along with this story because they are connected (You don't need to but it would help fully understand it). This is mostly for my readers for that story but it's for everyone as well. Now for the new readers, these stories have dialogue that are different from the game but still go along with what happens in the game. Anyways, hopefully you guys/girls like this as much as A Joker's Panther. Oh yeah, there will be AkiraxAnn moments still but they are just moments not like the full or most of the chapter."**

After Ann and the man left, Akira was about to start walking to the school when someone bumps into him. After the initial shock, he was able to see that it was a teen with short, spiky blond hair.

"Dammit!" The teen swears, "Screw that pervy teacher!"

Akira was surprised by his vulgarity but now he found out that the man was a teacher, _"He call a teacher pervy? If what he says is true then that would explain why Takamaki didn't want to go with him but she did anyways. Why would she do that? Actually, now that I think about it, isn't that against the school rules? I should ask him."_ He walks over him, "Excuse me, why did you call that teacher, pervy?"

The teen quickly turns around, "What do you want?" He walks up to him with a glare, "You planning on rattin me out to Kamoshida?"

" _It seems like whenever that teacher comes up he gets tick off."_ Akira shakes his head, "No. I was just wondering why you called him a pervy teacher."

The teen crosses his arms, "Because that asshole thinks he's some king of the castle! He walks around like he owns the place because he brought our volleyball team to the nationals. You're telling me you don't know any of this? Aren't you a Shujin student?"

Akira shakes his head, "Oh, my apologies. My name is Akira Kurusu, I'm a transfer student starting today as a second year."

" _My apologies? Why does he sound like an business man?"_ The teen's eyes go wide realizing he said transfer student, "Oh! You're a transfer student! No wonder why you didn't know anything about him." He scratches his head, "Anyways, name's Ryuji Sakamoto, nice to meet you." He holds out his hand for Akira to shake.

Akira smiles and shakes his hand, "Nice to meet you as well."

Once they stops shaking hands, they both feel their head throb.

"Ugh…" _"W-what was that…"_

"Ngh…" Ryuji holds his head, "Damn it, my head hurts…I wanna go home." They both hear the school's warning bell, "Crap, we're going to be late! Come on, I know a short cut!

Akira nods making Ryuji start walking away, _"He may be kind of vulgar but he seems like a good person. Hopefully he doesn't find out about my criminal record…I don't need to go through that again…"_ He follows after Ryuji and they go into an alleyway making him laugh, "Why are we going through an alleyway? Are you trying to have your way with me?"

Ryuji looks back at him in disbelief, "Really man? I'm not into guys."

Akira laughs some more, "Relax, I'm just joking with you."

"You have a weird sense of humor."

But as they were walking, Akira starts to feel that something was off, like they were in another world especially when he stepped in a puddle and there was no sound of an after splash from the water droplets and he looks up seeing that it stopped raining all of a sudden, "Hey, do you feel like something's…off?"

Ryuji stops walking, "The eff!? What happened to the school!?'

Akira looks forward seeing a huge dark castle in the school's border and then notices that the sky was red with black clouds, "Uh…is the school suppose to look like a castle? I guess you weren't kidding when you said that he acted like the King of the castle."

Ryuji was freaking out, "It isn't suppose to look like a castle!?"

"Yeah…I don't think the skies are suppose to look like we are in the last level of a game." Truthfully, he was scared as well but it wouldn't help if they both started freaking out.

Ryuji looks at him still freaking out, "This is no time for joking around! L-Let's just go inside!" He runs inside with Akira following him.

* * *

 **Inside the School?**

Ryuji and Akira stop running once they make it into the castle. They didn't even need to look around to realize that they were inside a foyer instead of the school's shoe locker area.

Ryuji starts looking around, "Yeah, this definitely isn't Shujin Academy! Where the hell are we!?" He pulls out his phone, "Dammit no signal…"

Akira looks over at the door to the left, "Maybe we should start looking around and see if there's anyone else here?"

Suddenly the door the Akira was looking at opens and two people dressed up as knights walks in but starts running at them when they notice them, "Who are you two and what are you doing inside our king's castle!?"

" _Knights!? The school really did turn into a castle! "_ Ryuji stomps his foot, "Answer our questions first! Why the hell did our school turn into a castle!?"

"Silence peasant!" The knight hit Ryuji with his shield knocking him down.

"Sakamoto!" Akira was about to help him but the other knight put his sword against his neck.

Ryuji was holding his stomach in pain from the shield, "What the hell man!? Why did you hit me!?"

The knight points his sword at him, "You must be the two intruders that our king talked about! To the dungeon with the both of you!"

Ryuji looks over at Akira, "Run! Go get help!"

"No! I'm not going to leave you behind!" Akira yells before he was knocked out by the knight.

* * *

 **Jail Cell**

Akira soon woke up still somewhat in a daze. He looks around and realizs that he was inside a jail cell with Ryuji who was trying to tear apart the bars but obviously failing at it, "I'm guessing we're in the dungeon?"

Ryuji turns around hearing Akira's voice and quickly walks over to him, "Yeah the asshole knights knocked us out and threw us in here. I kept screaming to let us out but they threatened to cut off my tongue."

Akira slowly got up, "No wonder why the back of my head hurts…" He looks around, "I'm guessing that you haven't found a way out of here?"

"Nah, I've tried looking around but there's no holes or broken vents like in those movies. I was even desperate enough to try to pull the bars apart."

Akira held his chin thinking, "Maybe one of us should pretend we're sick and when the knight comes, the other grabs his weapon and knocks him out then we grab the keys and escape."

Ryuji looks at him in disbelief, "Would that even work?"

Akira shrugs, "Well what else are we going to do?"

They both soon heard heavy armor clanking and three knights appears opening the cell door, "Listen up peasants! We have determined your punishment for your intrusion! You two will be executed!"

Ryuji looks at the knight, "E-Execution!"

Akira was starting to freak out in the inside but something inside him told him to resist, _"No…I'm not going to die in this jail cell!"_

"Are these the two intruders?"

A fourth male voice was heard and the three guards went to the sides of the cell entrance to let him in.

Akira and Ryuji's eyes went wide seeing who it was and what he was wearing. It was Kamoshida wearing only pink undies and a king's cape.

Akira throw up a little in his mouth, _"I might as well just let myself get executed after seeing this…"_

Ryuji looks at Kamoshida in shock, "You're the king of this castle!? You got to be kidding me!"

Kamoshida chuckles, "Sakamoto, Sakamoto. You just never give up do you? I knew you had to be the one of the idiots to trespass!"

Ryuji was still in shock, "How the hell did you change this school to a castle!?"

Kamoshida laughs, "You of all people should know that this school was always my castle!" He looks over at Akira, "And you…the transfer student with a criminal record, you've come to ruin my reputation in my own castle!" He walks up to Akira and punches him in the stomach making him kneel down and grunt in pain.

"You son of a bitch!" Ryuji was about to walk up to him but the knight hit him with his shield at his back making him fall to the ground.

Kamoshida stood over at Ryuji, "You have quite the mouth on you Sakamoto for being in the position you're in. But you won't be talking anymore soon!" He looks at his knights, "You two! Grab the transfer student and pin him against the wall."

The two knights grabs Akira's arms and drags him to the wall then slams him against it, holding him by the shoulders.

Kamoshida looks at the last knight, "Grab Sakamoto and prepare for his execution!"

The third knight nods and grabs Ryuji by the neck slamming him against the wall. Then he points the sword right at his heart.

Ryuji starts struggling, "Let me go dammit!"

Akira was desperately trying get out of the knights' grip to save Ryuji but he couldn't get out of it, "Let us go! We'll apologize!" He didn't want to apologize to this piece of shit but he rather give in than die.

Kamoshida looks over at Akira, "You be quiet! I'll deal with you after him!"

Ryuji gave up struggling and was close to tears realizing he was going to die, "S-stop it man! I-I don't want to die!"

Kamoshida starts laughing, "You know Sakamoto, if you just gave up and stopped trying to go against me; I would have just let you go but you just keep getting on my nerves." He then smirks, "But I do like seeing you defeated like this so maybe I'll enjoy it for a little bit before I kill you." He looks back at Akira, "And you, even though you're a criminal, you haven't gone against me yet. I will let you go but you will apologize to me after you see Sakamoto's execution just to show you what happens when you go against me!"

Akira kept trying to get out of the knights' grips but he soon gave up, _"I can't get out of the knights' grips…I'm sorry Sakamoto."_

" **What's the matter? Are you already giving up?"**

Akira's eyes went wide, _"W-What? W-Who said that!?"_

" **If you give up now, he will die…"**

Akira didn't know who or what was talking to him in his mind but he was right, _"You're right, but what can I do…"_

" **Let me ask you this then; was what you did in your hometown, a mistake? Losing everything just to save one woman who was a stranger to you. Because it seems like you're giving up on this young man."**

Akira looks down, _"No…it wasn't a mistake. I promised myself that I would help anyone who didn't have anyone to turn to. What kind of person would I be if I break my own promise! I will save him and anyone else who needs help!"_

" **Good…I have heeded your resolve. Now let us form a pact so I can give you my power!"**

" _Yes, I accept your power!"_

" **Very well, I am thou and thou art I!"**

Akira starts to scream in pain, _"W-Why does my head feel like it's going to split open! W-What are you doing!?"_

" **Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice! Call upon my name, and release thy rage! Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, thought thou be chained to Hell itself!"**

After he was done, the pain stops and Akira's head slumps down. At first it looks like Akira faints but then he slowly looks up with a smirk on his face feeling power. He then starts laughing darkly, "Hey…ugly piece of shit…you better leave him alone."

Kamoshida slowly turns around looking at Akira fury in his eyes, "What did you just call me? Do you really want to die that much?" The knight drops Ryuji and looks at Akira as well while Ryuji was on the ground trying to catch his breath.

The knight holding Ryuji walks up to Akira and hit him with his shield knocking his glasses off.

"Bad idea…" An unknown force knocks back everyone standing and Akira's clothes changes and he felt his face feeling something on it, _"What is this on my face!?"_

" **It's a mask. Take it off and release me so I can show you my full power!"**

" _Alright."_ Akira grabbs the mask and starts pulling but the more he pulls, the more it felt like he was ripping it off his skin. But despite feeling the immense pain, he keep doing it while screaming out. Finally ripping it off, blood was all over his face but soon the blood turns into a blue flame that surrounds him and a tall figure appears behind him.

" **I am the pillager of twilight! I am Arsene!"**

Ryuji looks at Akira and Arsene with wide eyes, "W-What the…!?"

Kamoshida looks at the two with fear in his eyes, "Who the hell are you two!? Guards! Kill them! Show them what happens when you defy me!" He ran to the corner.

The two guards turns in to Jack o' Lanterns with wizard clothing.

" **You should grab one of those swords and we can attack both of those shadows."**

Akira nodds, "Yeah." He ran and grabbs one of the knights dropped swords. He then ran up to one of the lanterns who launchs a fireball. But he dodgs it, _"How did I dodge that?"_ He lifts up the sword and slashs the shadow horizontally and then vertically making it dissipate, "Wow, these things are kind of weak."

 **Dark energy forms around Arsene's hand and he shot it at the other lantern making it disappear, "You would never measure up to my strength."**

After seeing the battle, the last knight ran away leaving Kamoshida by himself making him angry, "How dare you run away from your king!"

Akira walks up to him slowly, "What's wrong Kamoshida? Where's this tough king? Don't tell me you're scared."

 **Arsene laughs, "Now, should we proceed with the beating?"**

Ryuji got up, "Holy crap dude, that was awesome! You even got a sweet outfit!"

Akira looks over at the Ryuji, "Yeah, it was pretty cool. Wait, I have an outfit?" Akira looks down and saw his rebel outfit, "Hey! Look at that, I do." But then he returns to his original outfit.

" **Not to ruin your excitement but the man with the pink undies left."**

Akira and Ryuji looks at the corner and saw it empty.

Akira put a hand on his forehead, "That's what I get for not paying attention."

Ryuji shook his head, "Nevermind that! We need to get out of her before he comes back with more of those knights!"

Akira nodds, "Right!" He looks over at Arsene, "Uh, are you going to be able to run in these halls?"

 **Arsene shook his head, "I could but it would be easier if I return to your body and come out when you need me." He went back into Akira's body.**

Ryuji looks at Arsene going into Akira, "Man, I hope I can get one of those."

Akira laughs, "Maybe you will. But for now, we need to get going."

* * *

Akira and Ryuji were running to find the exit but stops when they heard a voice calling out their hair styles.

"Hey frizzy hair and blonde! Let me out of here!"

"Huh?" Akira looks toward a cell where the voice came from and notices a black catlike being with a scarf, "What the…? A cat that can stand on his hind legs?" **"He looks like one of those shadows but he isn't violent."**

That made the cat angry, "I'm not a cat! My name is Morgana!"

Ryuji had the look of suspicion on his face, "How do we know that you aren't one of those shadow things!?"

Morgana starts shaking the cell door, "Why would I be locked up if I was one of those things! Look, if you release me, I can help you escape and I never go back on my word!" They heard the knights coming, "Hurry before they show up!"

Ryuji taps on Akira shoulder and they turn around, "Do you think we should let out the cat?"

Akira nodds, "I have my suspicions but he might be able to show us the way." _"What do you think Arsene?_ **"Well he isn't violent and he can probably help us. I say do it."** _"Alright."_ Akira walks up to the cell door and opens it, "There you go, I released you."

Morgana ran out, "Ah freedom at last!"

Ryuji was getting impatient, "Would you shut up and help us escape like you said you would!"

"Alright, sheesh. Just follow me!" Morgana ran off

They follow him till he stops in front of the bridge, "Hey frizzy hair, you seem to know more than this idiot here. Look at the statue."

Ryuji didn't take that well, "Hey! I'm standing right here cat!"

Akira shruggs and walks to the statue of Kamoshida's face. He starts looking for a pulley or a switch but found nothing, _"Do you see anything Arsene?"_ **"Well it looks like his bottom lip is protruding out more than his upper lip."** _"Huh…I think you're right."_ Akira grabbs the lower lip and pulls it down. After he did that, the bridge starts going down.

Morgana looks at him, "I heard another voice coming out of you. Do you have a persona?"

Akira looks at him confused, "A Persona?" **"Yeah, I'm Arsene and I formed a pact with him."**

"Ha! Thought so! I have a persona too!" Morgana forms a green aura around him and a tall muscular cat holding a rapier appears behind him, **"Hola! Frizzy hair and idiot blond. The name is Zorro!"**

Ryuji was too shocks to notice the insult, "W-What the hell!? You have one two!"

 **Arsene appears behind Akira, "Nice to meet you Zorro."**

" **Likewise, Arsene."**

Two knights appears crosses the bridge, "There they are and they released the cat!" They then form into two pixies.

 **Zorro ran in front of Morgana, "Now I will show you my power, Amigos!" He swung his rapier in a Z shape and two small green whirlwinds form around the two pixies destroying them, "See how great I am!"**

 **Arsene put a hand on his mask, "Great…he's a narcissist…"**

After the pixies die, they continue on but Akira and Morgana stops when Ryuji stops, irritating Morgana, "Hey! What are you doing!? I need to get you two out of here before the guards get back!"

"Hold on! I recognize him! He's part of the volleyball team!"

Akira ran to the cell Ryuji was standing in front of, "There's someone in here?" He tries to open the cell door but it was locked.

The volleyball member looks at the two, "Leave me alone before the king comes here and punishes me!"

Morgana walks up to them, "We need to get out of here before the guards get here!"

Ryuji turns back looking at him, "But we can't just leave him!"

"There's no reason to rescue him since he is…" The gate opening nearby causes him to stop talking, "There's no time! We need to hurry!" Morgana ran ahead

Akira looks at Ryuji, "I don't want to leave him either but we have to go before we get captured again." **"We can fight them."** _"No, not when Ryuji's defenseless."_

Ryuji sighs, "Dammit." He looks at the teen in the cell, "Don't worry, we'll come back for you!"

They continue following after Morgana to a dead end with two doors to rooms. Ryuji went to open the right door and it didn't open, "Damn, it won't open!" He turns to Morgana, "Did you trick us!?"

 **Arsene laughs, "He didn't even try the other door."**

Morgana glares at him, "What!? No I didn't! You didn't even try the other door!?"

Akira walks up to the left door opening it and they all walk in. He looks around and notices that there wasn't a door but there was an opened vent.

Ryuji was still doubting Morgana, "How are we suppose to get out of her without no windows!?"

Morgana shook his head, "Tch amateur, did you ever think to look for a vent and climb through it?" **"This blond kid is really an imbecile!"**

Ryuji looks around and notices the vent, "Oh! There is a vent! Finally we can get out of here!" He climbs on the boxes and climbs through the vent.

Akira follows after him but looks back before going in, "Are you coming with us?"

Morgana shook his head, "No, there's something I need to do here. This is where we go our separate ways."

Akira shruggs and smirks, "Well just don't get caught again but still thanks for helping us hopefully we will meet again!"

After Akira left, Morgana was about to leave but looks at the vent, "Those two seem useful…well the frizzy hair one does. Maybe we can use him for my mission." **"We don't need the blonde one since he doesn't have a persona but I don't trust this Arsene. He probably thinks he's better than me!"**

* * *

 **Castle Front Entrance**

Akira made it out of the vent with Ryuji waiting for him.

"We finally made it out!"

Akira looks around realizing that they were out in the entrance, "Yeah I guess we did."

Ryuji looks around, "But how do we get back?"

" **Why don't you two just retrace your steps from before you got here?"** _"Actually you may be right."_ Akira looks over at Ryuji, "Arsene says we should retrace our steps. I agree with him."

Ryuji nodds, "Your persona sounds smart. Anyways, let's go through the alleyway then!"

The both start running to and then through the alley. Once they almost reach the other side, they start hearing people and cars.

Once they got out of the alley. Akira and Ryuji bent over, out of breath. Akira was first to recover, "Well we're back."

A robotic voice came out of Akira's pocket, "You have returned to the real world."

Akira grabbs his phone and realizs that the app was still there, _"It's this app again!? Wait? Did this thing send us to that castle?"_ "I think I know how we got there." He shows his phone to Ryuji.

Ryuji recovers and looks at his phone, "Whoa! That looks like a virus."

"I'm not sure but it keeps coming back. Maybe its how we got to that place."

Ryuji shook his head, "Man this is so strange! First the castle, then you getting that person or thing, then a talking cat, and now this strange app that might have took us to another world." He shook his head, "Anyways, was that really Kamoshida!?"

"Hey! Are you two Shujin students!? Are you two cutting class!?"

Akira and Ryuji looks behind them and saw two police officers. Akira was freaking out in the inside, _"Of course, the police just had to show up. Wait…what time is it!?"_

Ryuji scratchs his head, "Uh...yeah! We're Shujin students; we are just heading to school when we ran into a castle."

Akira just slaps his forehead, _"Really Ryuji!?"_

"Castle? Are you two doing drugs!? Give us your school bags!"

Akira bows, "We're sorry officers, he kind of fell down some subway steps and is still feeling kind of dazed. I was going to take him to the school's nurse."

The police officer crosses his arms and looks at Akira, "Are you his friend?"

Akira nodds, "Yeah."

The two officers looks at the two suspiciously but nodds, "Alright, we'll let you go and we won't call the school…this time. Just hurry on to school."

Akira bows again, "Thank you officers. We'll head straight to school."

Once they left, Ryuji walks over to Akira, "Thanks man."

Akira smiles, "Don't worry about it. Just make sure you don't start telling everyone about the castle."

Ryuji scratches his head, "Yeah, sorry about that, I'm still shocked about the whole thing. Anyways, let's get going." He checks his phone for the time and his eyes went wide, "For real!? It's past lunch time!"

Akira's eyes went wide, _"Crap! If the school calls Sojiro, I'm going to get kicked out of his place!"_

 **School Entrance**

* * *

Akira and Ryuji both ran to the school. Ryuji looks up and saw that the school was no longer a castle, "The school isn't a castle anymore!" Now that they saw the school was actually a school. They were now hoping to sneak in but they notice an adult with his arms crossed, glaring. Ryuji mumbld, "Shit, it's the guidance counselor.

Once they made it to the front gate the counselor starts speaking in a stern voice, "I see that you're late again Sakamoto. The police called the school and said they found you two. You both are going to be staying after school."

Ryuji grumbles, "Damn them, they said they wouldn't call…"

Akira sighs, _"Yep, now I'm definitely getting kicked out…"_

Kamoshida then appears making Ryuji flinch remembering that he almost died because of him but Akira gave him a light glare. He smirks at Ryuji, "Again Sakamoto? You seem so carefree now, getting in trouble all the time." He laughs, "It's different when you did morning practice with the track team."

Akira looks over at Ryuji and saw that he was grinding his teeth in contained rage, _"Morning practice with the track team? Is he part of the team?"_

Ryuji points at him, "Shut your mouth! That was all because of yo…"

The teacher interrupts him, "How dare you talk to a teacher that way! You better watch your mouth Sakamoto; you're already close to being expelled."

Ryuji still kept arguing, "He's the one that provoked me!"

"You keep pushing your luck huh? In any case, you have to come with me; you'll have to explain yourself."

Ryuji was about to respond back before Akira stops him, "Stop, it's not worth it."

"But…!"

Kamoshida laughs, "Come now, I should've been more considerate as well." He smirks at Ryuji, "Let's just say that we are both to be blamed."

The counselor relents, "If you say so…but I still need to talk to Sakamoto."

Ryuji sighs, "Fine then…" He went up to the counselor and they both left.

After they left, Kamoshida looks at Akira, "You're the new transfer student that I offered a ride to. Akira Kurusu."

Akira looks at him confused, _"No mention about the castle or being the king. What's going on?"_ "Yeah I am and I'm assuming you're Kamoshida?"

Kamoshida nodds, "I guess Sakamoto told you. Anyways, you better be on your best behavior or you'll be out of this school. Do you understand me?"

Akira nodds and decides to be a smartass, "Yeah. I'll be on my best behavior, just for you."

Kamoshida smirks, "Good to hear. You better go to the faulty office; Ms. Kawakami is waiting for you on the third floor."

Akira walks up the stairs and they both stare at each other before he walks into the school.

Once he left, Kamoshida growls, "You think I didn't see you and that blond bimbo getting all friendly. You will understand that this school is my castle and I am the King that rules everyone here even her!"

 **[End Notes: Okay so as you can read, I changed the whole scene when they first see the castle. I hoped you like the Arsene awakening scene. Also, Kamoshida was jealous of Akira the whole time during his arc. That's why he has a scowl on his face for a sec then he puts on a fake smile when he pulls up to Akira and Ann. Anyways, the next chapter will be when Ryuji gets Kidd and how he reacts to hearing him in the real world.]**


	2. Captain Kidd

**Captain Kidd**

 **[Author's Notes: I'll explain all the changes to the game story but they're not really changes its more dialogue changes and little changes in the scenes that go with the personas talking. Also, I didn't do the velvet room scenes because they're the same thing even with Arsene being there and when you first see Shiho because it's the same as the game.]**

After class had ended, Akira was going to ask Ann what was wrong since she kept sighing and looking out the window but she quickly packed up her things and left.

" _Huh? I wonder why she left so quickly."_ **"Maybe to get away from Mr. Pink Undies perhaps?"** _"Yeah that makes sense. Anyways, I need to get back quickly just in case Sojiro is mad."_ Akira got up and quickly left but as he was about to head downstairs, he was stopped by Miss Kawakami.

"Hey Kurusu-kun, I forgot to mention this but I heard you were late with Sakamoto."

Akira looked back confused about why that should matter, "Yeah, that's correct."

She sighed, "You shouldn't get involved with him. He's nothing but trouble."

Akira shook his head not liking what she said, "Just because he's sometimes loud and vulgar, that doesn't mean he's a troublemaker." **"Do teachers just assume things as well? That's kind of disappointing."**

Kawakami looked at him surprised that he was defending him, "That may be true but there are other reasons why he is. Anyways, I'm just warning you, if you hang around him, people will think you're a troublemaker as well."

Akira frowned, "People already think I'm a troublemaker because someone leaked that I have a 'false' criminal record and I know even you do. Because I already know that you don't want me here, I can hear you when you're mumbling how much of a problem I will be." He turned around while Kawakami's eyes went wide when he said he overheard her, "Don't worry, you'll only have to deal with me for a year." He was about to go downstairs when he bumped into Ryuji.

"Hey man! Can we talk? It's about what happ…" Ryuji stopped when he saw Kawakami, "Oh…it's you. Let me guess, you telling him how much of a troublemaker I am?"

Kawakami looked at Ryuji with a light glare and crossed her arms, "That is none of your concern, Sakamoto."

Ryuji scoffed, "Whatever." He then walked to Akira's side whispering, "Anyways, can we talk then? We can talk on the roof."

Akira nodded, "Yeah." He looked over at Kawakami and bowed, "Excuse me Kawakami-san, I must be going." He and Ryuji walked upstairs.

Kawakami watched him leave and looked down, _"Me and my big mouth…now I sound like a bad teacher…oh wait I am…"_ She looked back at where Akira left, _"But for being a criminal, he's really respectful even after hearing me. Is he really a criminal?"_ She then sighed, _"I don't have time to think about it…I have to get going…for my night job."_

* * *

 **Rooftop**

The door to the roof opened and Ryuji walked through while holding it open for Akira and then closed it once he walked in. Once he closed the door, he walked over to a table with a set of chairs and sat in one of them. He then looked up at Akira, "So what did she tell you anyways?"

Akira already knew he was talking about Kawakami, "She basically told me that you're nothing but a troublemaker and that I should stay away from you or else I'll get label as troublemaker."

Ryuji sighed annoyed, "It's all that bastard Kamoshida's fault." He then smiled at Akira, "Oh yeah, speaking of Kamoshida, thanks for early when we got stopped by the counselor, if I continued to go after Kamoshida, I would probably be expelled."

Akira smiled, "No problem, I just figured there was no reason to keep arguing because you wouldn't be able to sway him anyways." But then he frowned, "But just from what I heard, he does have the school under his control…" **"And that's rather disturbing…"**

Ryuji nodded, "Yeah, that's why I said he acts like the king of the castle." He looked away, "Anyways, what the hell was that about? That 'otherworld'? Was that a dream?"

Akira already knew it wasn't a dream because he was already having a dream about this velvet room and there was some truth to it except for them not telling him what his true purpose was so he started thinking about how to convince Ryuji that it wasn't a dream since he couldn't say anything about the velvet room since Ryuji never saw it, he soon nodded after figuring out what to say, "Well there is another person talking to me in my head and I'm pretty sure that I didn't have a voice in my head talking to me before I came to the city. Not only that, this would be one weird dream if I was dreaming of you, a talking cat standing on two legs with an giant cat as a partner, a being that's supposed to be my otherself, and a perverted teacher who wears pink undies who tried to kill you." **"Don't forget a beautiful girl."** _"Oh yeah, I'm surprised that I forgot about Takamaki."_

Ryuji nodded, "Yeah that would be weird if we're having the same dream. Wait, when you say voice in your head, you talking about, uh what was his name? Arsene?" Akira nodded, "So how come I can't hear him now?"

Akira smiled, "He said it's because only persona-users can hear him in the real world."

"That sucks." Ryuji crossed his arms thinking, "So if it wasn't a dream then why does Kamoshida act like nothing happened?"

Akira shrugged, "Beats me, maybe it has something to do about that otherworld? Maybe we should talk to Morgana about it."

Ryuji looked at him confused, "Morgana?"

"The cat-being in the otherworld; you already forgot about him?" **"He's really forgetful or was too scared to process a talking cat."**

"Oh yeah! That thing!" Ryuji got up, "Do you even know how to get back there though?"

Akira brought out the phone, "Remember the eyeball thing I showed you on my phone?"

Ryuji nodded, "Yeah! It looked like some kind of virus or something."

Akira nodded, "I think we can use it to get back to that place. Since it said that we returned from that world"

Ryuji got excited, "Really!? Sweet! We should go back tomorrow then!"

Akira looked at him confused, "Are you sure you want to go back? You don't have a persona so you might get hurt bad."

Ryuji shrugged, "Eh, I'll be fine. Sides, I want to know why that asshole doesn't remember what he did and how he was able to turn this school into this castle and back again! Wait, do you think he's some sort of secret evil villain that can transform this world into another world?"

Akira laughed, "Well, I have this cool persona so maybe he has this secret power, he just couldn't control me since I'm an independent young man who don't need no volleyball coach."

Ryuji laughed, "Really man? You and your bad jokes."

Akira laughed again, "Well I am that master of them. Anyways, we can go tomorrow. Just don't do anything reckless."

"Cool and don't worry, I won't!" Ryuji then looked away frowning, "By the way, I heard some rumors that you're supposed to be a criminal?"

Akira frowned thinking that he was believing the rumors and glared at him, "Yeah…what about it?"

Ryuji shook his head, "I think its bullshit, I already know you ain't a criminal. You saved my life when you could've just run away. I know damn well that no criminal does that."

Akira smiled at him, "Thanks, I'm glad that you don't believe that I am an actual criminal. The rumors only surfaced because someone leaked about my false criminal record. But the false criminal record is why I had to transfer here."

Ryuji looked at him wide eyed, "For real!?"

Akira nodded, "Yeah, I can tell you tomorrow what happened after we go to the otherworld since the school more than likely called my guardian, who happens to be stern, so it's better if I deal with his anger as soon as possible." **"And hopefully not get kicked out."**

Ryuji nodded, "Yeah, I would probably do the same thing. Anyways, let's get out of here before someone comes up here. Let's meet up in the alley in front of the school tomorrow." Akira nodded and they both headed to the door but before Ryuji opened it, he turned around, "Oh yeah, I never thanked you for saving me from Kamoshida's execution. So thanks, I honestly thought that you were going to book it."

Akira shook his head, "I wasn't going to leave you behind, I made a promise to myself that I would be there for anyone who needed help and not only that, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I just ran away." **"And you kept your word, like a true gentleman."**

Ryuji looked at him in admiration, "Damn dude, even though that's cool, you sound like some sort of anime main character."

Akira laughed, "Yeah, I guess I kind of do. I just need dye my hair blue and cover one eye or dye it grey and get a bowl cut or just keep flipping my phone open for some reason."

Ryuji laughed, "Yeah, you have the basic hair color and hair. You'd need something weird."

* * *

 **Leblanc Café**

Akira was standing outside of the Café delaying the inevitable.

" **There's no point in delaying the inevitable."**

" _I know that but I'm thinking if I should play stupid or just tell the truth."_

" **Or you can just say the same thing that you told the cops for Ryuji."**

Akira smiled, _"Yeah, you're right!"_ Now knowing that he had a pretty good lie, he opened the door and walked inside seeing Sojiro leaning against his counter reading the newspaper, "Hey, I'm back."

Sojiro didn't even look up from his newspaper. "I got a call from the school that you weren't at school for half the day. You better have a good explanation about why that is."

Akira smirked, "I actually have a perfectly good explanation. One of the students that goes to Shujin fell down the subway escalators and I had to bring him to the school nurse because he wasn't fully conscious but I had to do it myself so it took a long time."

Sojiro put his paper down and looked over at Akira with a scowl, "I heard a different story by the gym teacher, it was because of a student who made you late because he's some sort of troublemaker."

Akira looked at him confused, "Gym teacher?" **"He must be talking about Mr. Pink Undies."** _"Yeah, it must be but why?"_ **"He must be showing his power even something as small as this."**

Sojiro nodded, "Yeah, which I was surprised about since when does a gym teacher call parents about a kid being late to school?" He then frowned, "Anyways, I'm going to punish you for lying to me and for being late without a good cause, so from now on, you will be going to school an hour earlier to make sure it doesn't happen again and if it does, I'm kicking you out, do you understand me?"

Akira sighed, "Yeah…even though I lose some of my beauty sleep…"

Sojiro shrugged, "No one's fault but your own, just be lucky that I only gave you warning. Besides, I told you to stay away from troublemakers and look what happened when you did hang with them."

Akira was about to say that Ryuji wasn't a troublemaker but Sojiro didn't even know who he was, "Alright, I promise that this won't happen again." _"Wow, a punishment is considered a warning for him? That's a new level of being stern."_ **"Well you're lucky that he only gave you that."**

Sojiro nodded, "That's better. Now sit down I'll get you a plate of curry and a cup of coffee."

Akira smiled and nodded, "Thank you, sir." _"I'm surprised that he's feeding me at all."_ **"I think he's only doing this because he has too…"**

* * *

 **Leblanc Attic**

Akira was lying in bed thinking about what happened today, "Man, I can't believe everything that happened today, it really does sound like a dream."

" **I wouldn't doubt that you and Sakamoto would believe this to be all a dream."**

Akira nodded, "Well yeah, I mean, my other self that became a physical manifestation and a perverted teacher who doesn't remember trying to kill us. Yeah, it may have been another world but it was the same person, wouldn't he have any recollection of what happened?"

" **That's why we should wait until tomorrow to talk to Morgana."**

"So you don't anything about the otherworld?"

" **No, I only know what you know. Speaking of the otherworld, are you sure that you should bring Sakamoto along?"**

Akira sighed, "Yeah, I know I shouldn't but he won't take no for an answer."

" **Even if it may cost him his life?"**

"That's why you're going to defend him if the shadows go after him. Besides we're just going to talk to Morgana, that's all."

" **I will do what you say but what about you?"**

"I'll be fine; since I have you, should be able to take more hits."

" **Alright then, then let us get some rest for tomorrow."**

Akira was confused, "Wait, you sleep?"

" **Yes, doesn't everybody?"**

"Well yeah, but you don't have a physical body here."

" **Just because I can't be out in your world doesn't mean I don't still have a physically body, we are one in the same in this world. Just think of me as your spirit since I'm one with you and I don't need sleep but it's nice to rest my eyes."**

"Ah okay, then let's us go to get some rest then."

" **Indeed."**

* * *

 **Shujin Academy**

Akira tried to talk to Ann again after class but she quickly got out of the class before everyone else. Yeah they would exchange greetings and talk a bit before class but that's it. But then she would just keep sighing and looking out the window.

" _Whatever it is, it must really bother her…I wonder if it has something to do with Kamoshida? It's obvious that she doesn't want anything to do with him so why is she dealing with Kamoshida's behavior? Shouldn't she tell someone?"_ **"Maybe because nobody will help her…"** _"Maybe, but she probably won't tell me..."_ **"Let's just go meet Sakamoto in the alleyway for now."** _"Yeah."_ Akira got up from his desk and started walking to the entrance but then stopped when he heard Ann talking to someone. As he got closer he heard that it was Kamoshida.

"You mention something that you weren't feeling well. Something to do with stomach pains?"

Ann looked down not wanting to look at him feeling uncomfortable, "Y-Yes…I've been planning on going to the hospital but I've been too busy…sorry to worry you…"

" _She's sick? Is that why she's been acting that way?"_ **"I don't think that's it, I think she was just making excuses."**

"You must feel lonely, especially since I'm keeping your friend after practice often." Kamoshida smirked, "Oh and be careful around that transfer student since he's a criminal after all. He'll probably attack you."

Ann looked away frowning, _"I actually believe he isn't a criminal, unlike how I think of you…dick."_

" _You bastard…"_ Akira saw how uncomfortable she was and decided to help her out so he walked towards them clearing his throat, "Ahem, excuse me Takamaki, but we have that project to work on that we're partners for."

Ann turned around and looked at Akira in shock and then in confusion, "We do?"

Akira laughed, "Yeah. Did you already forget? We were going to meet in the library." He walked up to Ann and did the roll with it hand motion in front of him so Kamoshida couldn't see.

Once Ann saw the motion she instantly knew that he was making up stuff to help her. So she purposely decided to sound annoyed, "Even though I'm sick, I guess we should start the project early then…"

Akira nodded, "Okay, I'll see you in the library then." He ran upstairs.

Ann looked over at Kamoshida still trying to sound sad, "Please excuse me…"

Kamoshida crossed his arms, "Even though we're in school, he will attack you."

Ann nodded, "Thank you for looking out for me. But I should be safe." She then ran upstairs.

Once she left, Kamoshida gritted his teeth, _"So he really thinks that he can take her from me! I will show him what happens when he crosses me!"_ He then walked away.

* * *

 **Classroom Building 3** **rd** **Floor**

Once Ann made it up to the top of the stairs, she saw Akira leaning against the wall smiling, "Thank you for helping me out."

Akira shrugged, "It's no problem, I could tell that you were uncomfortable."

Ann nodded, "Yeah I was. Anyways, thank you again, but I got to get going, I'm meeting up with a friend."

Akira nodded, "I understand but um," He scratched his head, "I see you sigh and look out the window a lot in class, so I wanted to let you know that if you need someone to talk to, you can talk to me."

Ann looked at him surprised but looked down, "Thank you but this is something I have to do myself…I'll see you tomorrow." She quickly left to the practice building to go meet her friend.

Akira felt kind of hurt that she left so quickly. _"She really likes to leave quickly but now I know it definitely has something to do with Kamoshida."_ **"I know you want to help her but maybe you should let her be for now."** _"Yeah, you're right, let's just go meet up with Ryuji then."_ He waited a bit to make sure that Kamoshida left then walked downstairs.

Ann stopped and looked back, _"He's a really nice person…"_ She was tempted to tell him about Kamoshida since he was the only one that asked her what was wrong but she knew it was a risk because he would have probably gone after Kamoshida and that would ruin everything that she had to put up with him for Shiho's dream and she wasn't going to risk that.

* * *

 **Outside Shujin Academy**

Akira walked to the alleyway seeing Ryuji leaning against the wall waiting for him, "Sorry I got caught up with something."

Ryuji got off the wall, "No problem man, I figured you wouldn't leave me hanging."

Akira nodded, "Of course not." He looked at Ryuji with a serious look, "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

Ryuji smiled and nodded, "Yeah, let's do this!"

"Alright then…" _"Let's see if what Igor says is true."_ Akira brought out his phone and pressed the app. The world started becoming distorted. Then they looked over at the school and saw that the school did become a castle again.

Ryuji looked at Akira, "So it wasn't all a dream!" He noticed that Akira had the same outfit on when he got Arsene, "Wait, you're wearing that outfit again!"

Akira looked down at his outfit, "I like this outfit, too bad that I only get to wear it in this world." **"It does indeed look magnificent."**

Ryuji looked at Akira surprised, "Whoa! Is that voice coming out of your head supposed to be Arsene?"

 **Arsene appeared out of Akira, "Yes, it is. Good to see you again."**

Ryuji looked at him in amazement, "Man, I was too scared to notice it before, but your persona looks badass!"

 **Arsene looked at him with confusion, "My ass is bad?"**

Akira laughed, "Its slang for cool."

 **Arsene nodded, "Ah…then I thank you for saying that I'm cool."**

Akira looked towards the entrance seeing Morgana run to them, "Well at least we don't have to search for Morgana." **Arsene sighed, "And here's the headache..."**

Morgana stopped in front of them, "What are you two doing here!? No wonder why the shadows were getting agitated!" **"I guess the frizzled hair one is an idiot as well."**

Ryuji ran up to him, "You! We got some questions for you!"

Morgana looked at him confused, "Questions?" **"At least he's not stupid enough to be able to ask questions."**

Ryuji ignored Zorro, "Yeah! What the hell is this world?"

Morgana looked at him confused still, "It's a place where a person's twisted desires become reality. Didn't you guys know this before coming back?"

Ryuji looked at him confused, "No and what does that even mean?"

Morgana sighed, "That's not surprising…a moron wouldn't understand it."

Ryuji stomped his feet in anger glaring at Morgana, "What was that!?"

Akira looked at the castle understanding Morgana, "So Kamoshida's desire is to be king of the school and that's why the school looks like a castle in this otherworld." **"Unfortunately, it sounds like the school already acts like he is..."**

Morgana looked at Akira impressed, "Wow, you catch on quick unlike a certain someone." **"And that someone is you blonde."**

They all suddenly heard a scream

Ryuji's eyes went wide, "W-What was that!?"

Morgana looked away, "It sounds like his captive slaves…"

Akira looked at Ryuji, "Remember the captive volleyball team member we saw? Does Kamoshida treat the team members as slaves?"

Ryuji gritted his teeth, "I wouldn't doubt it! I've heard rumors about how he trains them, something like corporal punishment!" He went over to the front door and started to ram it with his shoulder, "Damn it! It won't open!"

Morgana sighed, "It's not going to open like that!"

Ryuji looked over at Morgana, "Hey Mona!"

Morgana stomped his foot in anger, "Its Morgana!" **"Get his name right, you moron!"**

"Whatever! Can you take us to where they're at?"

Morgana sighed, "I don't get why you two want to go back but I'll take you two there." **"Do I really have to protect this imbecile?"** "Just follow me; we can take the secret entrance that you guys used before." He was about to lead them to the vent but stopped and turned towards Akira,

Akira nodded, "Alright lead the way." **Arsene went back into inside of Akira, "Do we really have to follow him?" Arsene whispered.** _"We have to, I don't know anything about this place."_

Morgana stopped in front of vent, "Wait a minute, before we go in there, have this." He pulled out a dagger from out of nowhere and handed it to Akira, "Just in case there are shadows around."

Akira grabbed the dagger and smiled, "Thanks."

Morgana nodded, "Don't worry about it. I can't be doing all the work anyways." **"We would probably anyways, since we are stronger than them."** He then crawled into the vent.

Ryuji frowned, "Only he would be an asshole while trying to be helpful."

Akira frowned as well, "Yeah, I should've figured." **"They're both narcissistic…"**

They both crawled into the vent as well

Ryuji shook his head still trying to believe what he heard about this world, "A world where desires becomes real? This is effing crazy!"

Akira nodded, "Yeah, I can't believe that this is all real. But I don't remember desiring to have a persona. Not saying that I don't want one, Arsene." **"It's alright, I already know that you didn't mean that it a bad way."**

Morgana hissed, "Will you two be quiet!? You're supposed to be like thieves!" **"One's an amateur with an amateur persona and the other is a moron. Of course, they don't know how to be thieves."**

Akira was quickly getting annoyed by Zorro, _"Zorro's really starting to get on my nerves…"_ **"He only calls me an amateur because he doesn't know that I'm a master thief and a master of disguise." Arsene whispered.** That surprised Akira, _"Wow! That's pretty cool! Oh master, you should teacher me your masterful ways of the thief."_ **Arsene laughed, "Sounds like a good idea to me."**

* * *

 **Foyer**

They made it to the foyer through the vent and started going towards the underground prison but as they were running through it, the world became distorted and changed to the entrance of the school but quickly turned back into the castle.

Ryuji stopped and looked at Morgana, "What the hell? Why did it change into the school?"

Morgana looked back at Ryuji, "Because this castle is your school, didn't I just tell you that?" **"You're a moron."**

Akira put a hand on his chin, "Well it proves that the school and the castle is one in the same." **"Kind of convenient that it happened in the main area of the castle. Must be plot related."** _"Plot related?"_

Morgana started running ahead, "Anyways, we need to keep moving before we get caught."

* * *

 **Underground Prison**

They made it to the prison without dealing with any guards with they were grateful for but that's until Morgana stopped suddenly, "Wait! There's a shadow…I should've known that there were going to be guards here now." He hid behind a bookshelf and the other two did the same thing. Once they got into position, he looked over at Akira, "We can sneak attack him. Do you want to take him out? You just need to take off its mask. Once you do, the shadow will be taken by surprise and we will have the advantage." **"What!? I wanted to do it!"**

Akira nodded in understanding, "Well Arsene? Do you want to do it?" **"Leave it to me then." Arsene appeared out of Akira and started sneaking towards the shadow. Once he got behind the shadow, he quickly grabbed the shadow around the neck and took off his mask.**

Once the mask came off the knight turned into a Jack' O Lantern

 **Zorro appeared out of Morgana and pushed Arsene to the side, "This one is mine, senior." He pulled out his rapier and swung it in a Z motion. Once he did, a small green whirlwind appeared around the shadow and then slashed the shadow. Since it was weak against wind it instantly got destroyed. He then looked over at Arsene, "That's how it's done."**

 **Arsene scoffed, "You act like that was a hard enemy."**

 **Zorro scoffed as well, "Whatever, you're just jealous of my abilities."**

Morgana looked over at Akira, "We need to be careful from now on because there will be more of them."

Akira nodded at him, "Yeah I understand." He looked at Ryuji, "Just stay behind us, we'll keep you safe."

Ryuji sighed, "Yeah…I know. Dammit, I feel so useless."

Akira shook his head and put a hand on his shoulder, "You're not, you just don't have a persona. Anyways, if you weren't here then I would've lost my mind dealing with this cat alone. I rather just get executed by Kamoshida."

Ryuji laughed, "Thanks man, I'm good for something at least."

Akira laughed, "There you go."

Morgana walked up to him, "Are you two done yet? We need to keep moving before the shadows get more agitated."

Akira looked at him, "Yeah. Lead the way."

They continued on to the jail cell. Once they to found the cell where they last saw the volleyball member, they walked to it and all looked instead…but he was gone.

Ryuji became even more worried, "Why ain't anyone here?" He looked at Morgana, "Where'd they go? They were here before!"

Morgana glared at him, "Quiet down!" **"Do you ever stop being loud and obnoxious?"** "They might have been transferred."

Ryuji nodded, "Then let's hurry up and find them!" He then ran on ahead.

Akira chased after him, "Hold on!" **"Didn't we just tell to stay behind us?"**

Ryuji stopped and came back, "Crap! I heard multiple footsteps coming here!"

Morgana looked over at the door near him, "Over here! We need to hide before we they get here." They ran two through a door.

* * *

 **Safe Room**

Once they got inside, they noticed two tables with benches around them and two bookcases as well as a lantern attached to the roof it then turned into a classroom for a bit and then back to the classroom, "We should be safe here since the shadows won't come in here."

Ryuji was leaning over out of breath but recovered and looked over at Morgana, "How do you know?"

Morgana looked over at Ryuji, "Didn't you see it change? Like in the foyer?" Ryuji nodded, "It's because this is a safe room and it's where this Kamoshida's influence is at its weakest."

Akira nodded, "Yeah, it turned back into a classroom for a bit but it does make sense that this room would be where he would be his weakest since he has no power in a classroom since he's a gym teacher." **"That makes a lot of sense."**

Morgana looked at him surprised, "Wow! You really do catch on quick unlike a certain blonde." **Zorro started laughing**

Ryuji stomped his foot in anger, "Shaddup! You stupid cat!"

Morgana glared at Ryuji, "I am not a cat!" **"Do you want me to teach him a lesson?"**

Akira sighed, "Would you two knock it off."

Morgana sighed, "Anyways, like I said before, this is the owner's alternate reality formed by their heart's twisted desires. I call it a palace."

" _So I guess this is what Igor meant by palace."_ Ákira held his chin, "So let me get this right, Kamoshida's secret desires are to be recognized as the king of the school and might be treating the volleyball members as slaves and this world is making all of that a reality or close to reality?" **"Mr. Pink Undies is a really sick man."**

Morgana nodded at him, "Yeah, that's basically it." **"A least someone's actually smart out of these two."**

Ryuji gritted his teeth, "I don't give a damn what this place is called. I'm taking that his asshole down!"

Morgana looked at him sadly, "You really hate this Kamoshida person, all you ever do is want to take him down…"

That just made Ryuji angrier, "Hate doesn't even describe what I feel towards him! Everything wrong that happened me is all his fault!"

Akira gave Ryuji a side-glance remembering about what happened when they were caught being late, _"It must have something to do with track."_ **"I wonder what Kamoshida did to make him hate him this much."**

Morgana shook his head, "I don't know what happened but you need to keep level-headed or you'll just agitate the shadows more."

Akira was trying to find a way to change the subject, he then looked at his outfit and then wondered why they had change so he looked at Morgana, "So why do my clothes change in this world?"

Morgana looked over at him, "it's because you awoken to your rebellious spirit and are using it to fight against a person's twisted desires. Those clothes represent that rebellious image that you hold into yourself." **"We still look cooler than you two."**

Akira chuckled, "Well I guess I always imagine myself looking and being a gentleman thief apparently." **"You may truly have the gift to become one."**

Ryuji looked over at Morgana, "But that doesn't explain you! If you're supposed to be human, why the do you look like a cat then?"

Morgana looked down, "T-That's because I lost my real form…I think?"

Ryuji looked at him suspiciously, "You think?"

Morgana nodded, "Yeah! That's why I was here because I was searching for a way to get my real form…till I got caught." **"It was most unfortunate…"**

Akira looked at Morgana confused wondering why he didn't use Zorro to escape, "Why didn't you just use Zorro to break you out?"

Morgana looked at Akira in shock, "W-Well I just knew that you guys would come find me!" **Zorro was shocked as well, "How could I be so stupid not to do that…"**

 **Arsene laughed, "Looks like the one who calls Ryuji a moron all the time, pulled a moronic move."**

 **Zorro growled, "You want to say that to my face again, amigo!"**

Morgana shook his head, "A-Anyways, I was tortured by that Kamoshida as well so I want payback too!"

Ryuji scratched his head, "Man, this really is like a manga." He looked back at Morgana, "Anyways, where did Kamoshida take the volleyball team?"

Morgana glared at him, "How should I know!?"

Ryuji stomped his foot, "You're telling me that you never looked around here or seen him take them away!?"

"I told you I got captured!"

Akira put a hand on his forehead feeling a headache coming, _"All they ever do is argue with each other…"_ **"It does get kind of annoying…"**

Morgana's ears twitched, "Wait a minute, I can hear guards outside the door; I can eavesdrop on them." He walked to the door and put his ear towards it. After a moment, he walked back to them, "I heard them say that he took them away to the training hall. It's just up ahead from this room. We should leave now before they come back."

Akira nodded, "Alright, let's get going then."

Ryuji's eyes went wide when he put his hands in his pockets, "Wait!" He walked up to Akira who turned to him, "I forgot I brought this." He handed him a toy gun and medicine, "I know it ain't much but I just brought it just in case. Sorry I forgot about it."

Akira shrugged, "With everything going on, I wouldn't doubt you would forget something." Akira grabbed the gun and medicine and looked at the toy gun, "Well it looks just like it does in the movies." **"I don't like using guns but I'm not going to look down on you for using it."** "Thanks. Even if it isn't real, at least it's something; maybe I can scare the shadows with it."

Morgana was getting impatient, "If you guys are done preparing, we got to get moving before the guards come back." He opened the door and ran out.

Akira and Ryuji nodded at each other and followed after Morgana

They kept following Morgana and were about to run across a bridge but saw a knight patrolling across it.

Akira smirked wanting to sneak attack a shadow after see Arsene do it, "I got this one." _"All I got to do is take off his mask right?"_ **"Correct."** He waited for the knight to walk past the bridge, he then ran across it and before the shadow can turn around after hearing his footsteps, he jumped on his shoulders and grabbed his mask ripping it off his face, "Show me your true face!" He then jumped off the knights' shoulders landing in front of it while the knight turned into mandrakes

Morgana ran behind them, "Good work Frizzy Hair!" **"Hmph, he only got lucky." Zorro appeared out of Morgana and used Garu but the mandrake was still alive, "W-What!?"**

 **Arsene appeared outside of Akira and his hand gather dark energy then he shot it at the injured mandrake destroying it, "That's how it's really done, furball."**

Akira ran towards the other mandrake and slashed it twice with his dagger and jumped then slashed it coming down but the mandrake was still alive but injured, "Looks like they're stronger than the Jack'Os."

The injured mandrake had just enough energy to jump back and charge into a lunging dropkick hitting Akira in the stomach making him reel back

"Zorro, Garu!" **Zorro summoned a green tornado appeared around the mandrake and then sliced it, destroying it."**

Akira recovered but was still hurting

"Don't worry, I got you. Zorro, heal him!"

 **Zorro aimed his rapier at him and a small white ball hit Akira and he was instantly healed, "You should be grateful of my healing skills.**

"Yeah, thanks for your healing spells."

After Akira was healed, they continued on. Ryuji felt even more useless even though he gave Akira the gun and medicine especially after seeing him get hurt, _"Dammit…I'm even useless in this world too…"_

After going downstairs, Morgana suddenly stopped and hid behind the wall making the other two stop as well, "There's two guards around the corner."

Akira peeked around noticing that it was an narrow hallway, "What should we do then? Take them out?"

Morgana looked back at Akira, "No, we still got a long way to go so need to conserve our energy."

Akira brought out the toy gun Ryuji gave him, "What if I scare them with this then?"

Morgana looked at the gun closely and then his eyes lit up, "Yes! This will do nicely." The two teens looked at him confused, "Get the shadows attention and then fire the gun."

Ryuji shook his head, "I told you that the gun is a toy! It's not going to fire real bullets!"

"What was that?" One of the knights started walking towards them.

Morgana glared at Ryuji, "Why do you always have to be so loud!?" **"This moron is getting on my nerves!"**

Akira shook his head, _"No point in questioning it now…"_ He held the gun tightly in his hand and got out from behind the wall but he saw the knight right in his face making the knight bring up his sword and just before the knight swung his sword down. Akira quickly shot him pointblank in the mask, shattering it and shocking him..

The knight turned into a pixie and mandrake but they were both shocked as well.

Morgana jumped from behind the wall with a slingshot, "I'll fire at the mandrake and you shoot at the pixie!"

Akira shook his head out of shock, "Y-Yeah." He then started unloading onto the pixie felling bad for doing it until got destroyed. **"That was a little overboard…"**

Morgana got done with dealing with the mandrake as well, "I wasn't planning on doing it that way but I guess it worked out in the end." He glared at Ryuji, "Will you stop being so loud! You're going to get us in caught!"

Ryuji shook his head out of shock and looked at Morgana, "Forget about that! What just happened!? How did you shoot real bullets from a toy gun!?"

Akira looked over at Morgana as well, "Yeah, I'm curious on how that works too."

Morgana crossed his arms, "Because this is a cognitive world. Since the gun looks realistic, the shadows see it as the real thing, so that's why it can fire like a real gun." **"I already know the dumb one won't get it."**

Ryuji scratched his head, "I don't get it…"

Akira looked at Ryuji, "Basically if I showed you this gun without me telling you that it's a toy and because it looks like a real one, your first question is obviously going to be, is it real? That's basically what the shadows are thinking but since this is a world that imagination becomes real, it turned into a real gun."

Ryuji slowly nodded at Akira, "I think I got it…" He looked over at Morgana, "So why do you have a slingshot then and how's it as strong as a gun?"

Akira shrugged, "That I don't know why." **"Maybe it's because he thinks it's as strong as a gun?"**

Morgana nodded, "Y-Yeah that's why!" **"And it's not because he doesn't know why it is."** "Anyways, we're almost there! Let's just keep going!"

They continued on to the training hall but they ran into another shadow who was standing in front of a door making Morgana stop, "There's another guard here and we need to get in there, I can you teach another thing and this one is really cool."

Akira nodded, "Alright let me take his mask off then." He ran over to the shadow and did his usual removing the knight's mask technique and it turned into a pixie.

Morgana ran next to him, "Alright, knock him down with Arsene since his move is strong against her."

Akira nodded, "You heard him Arsene!" **"Got it." Arsene appeared outside of Akira and threw a ball of dark energy at the pixie, knocking it down.**

Morgana meowed, "Nice! Alright, time to perform an All-Out Attack!" **Zorro appeared out of Morgana, "I will destroy this weak shadow with my mightiness!"** "Now we attack it repeatedly with style!"

Akira smirked, "Sounds good! It's time to end this then!" **"Let us commence the beating!"**

Ryuji saw them jump up and disappear. He then saw them continuously attack the lone pixie as shadows and after a bit, he saw Akira and Arsene appear in front of him back-to-back, Akira fixed his gloves while Arsene fixed his mask and then looked at Ryuji smirking, "She never saw it coming." **"Because by the time we hit her, it was her last surprise."** And the pixie was destroyed.

Ryuji had a look of a mixture of shock and amazement, "Dude…that was badass!"

Morgana walked up to Ryuji, "Of course it was! An all-out attack is supposed to look cool!" **"Even though I wanted to do a ending pose…"**

Akira smiled, "I feel bad about the pixie that was kind of overkill." **"At least it's resting in peace, I guess."** "But I can't believe how much we can do in this world. I like it."

Morgana looked over at him, "That's what you're outfit is for." He then walked over to the door and opened it, "Alright! We're here!"

Akira and Ryuji followed him and look at the sigh above the door

Ryuji had a look of disgust reading the sigh, "Training Hall…of…Love!? What kind of bullshit is this!?"

Akira frowned, _"Don't tell that his other desire is trying to make the volleyball team into sex slaves…"_ **"That would be beyond sickening…"**

* * *

 **Training Hall of Love**

Akira felt like he was getting used to fighting and working with Arsene. Learning about the gun helped out a lot as well, "You know, this is pretty fun." **"You're certainly learning quickly." Arsene whispered.** _"I got a cool persona helping me out that's why."_ **"Glad to hear it."**

They suddenly heard voices not sounding like the knights while going down, "Wait, are those the voices of the captured volleyball team?"

Akira nodded at him, "Yeah, it must be. We should hurry then."

They started running towards the voices and they were getting louder the closer they got to them. Once they made it to the front of a huge jail cell, they looked down and to their horror, they saw students holding onto the volleyball net bent over a little with knights hitting them in the rear with maces.

Ryuji stomped his foot in anger, "What the hell!? What is this bullshit!?"

Akira shook his head in sadness, _"This is too messed up to believe he really thinks like this…"_ **"I can't believe a teacher would actually think of this…"**

Morgana glared at Ryuji, "How many times do I have to tell you to be so loud!" **"Maybe I should knock some sense into him."**

Ryuji shook his head, "This is beyond messed up though!" He looked over at the door even more determined to save the team members and tried opening it but it wouldn't open, "How do I open this?"

"Stop it…"

Ryuji and Akira looked over to the defeated voice and gasped seeing an injured volleyball team member with bandages covering his left leg and his right forearm.

"Leave us alone…its useless…"

Ryuji looked at him confused about why he wanted to stay in this hellhole, "Huh!?"

Another volleyball team member walked up over by the door, "If we stay obedient, we won't be executed like you two!"

Akira looked at the other volleyball team member surprised about what he said, _"So it is true then…he thinks of the volleyball team as slaves…"_ **"I hate this man even more now."**

Ryuji didn't like what they were saying, "Why do you want to stay in this hellhole!?"

Hearing that, Morgana walked looked at Ryuji confused, "Wait a minute…were you planning on taking these guys out of here?"

Ryuji looked back at Morgana, "We can't just leave them here!"

Morgana shook his head, "How stupid can you be…?"

Akira sighed getting annoyed about Morgana calling Ryuji stupid or an idiot all the time, "Will you stop calling Ryuji an idiot for not knowing much about this world." He looked over at Ryuji and explained why he wouldn't be able to save them in a simpler way, "Anyways, at first, I wanted to save them as well but I thought about it as we were coming down here because once Morgana told us about this castle being Kamoshida's desires that also means that these volleyball members are acting like slaves because it's part of Kamoshida's desires. To put it simply, they are not real people because they're like figments of Kamoshida's imagination made physical."

Ryuji nodded, "Okay, I think I got it." He looked back at the 'training', "So this is what really goes on inside this asshole's head…"

Morgana walked up to the cell and looked down in sadness, "They must go through so much physical abuse…there's no way they should be this beat up normally…I wonder if he does it in the real world as well…" **"This Kamoshida person is pretty ruthless."**

Akira thought for a moment, "I thought about it earlier but what if he does…" He looked over at Ryuji, "You did say that you heard rumors about him doing something like this." **"Shouldn't that be illegal though?"**

Ryuji looked at him, "Yeah, but I only thought those were just rumors…but like Arsene said, it should be illegal doing this. Why hasn't anyone said anything about this though?"

Akira looked down, "Maybe because they're too scared."

Ryuji sighed and brought out his phone, "I should take pictures of this for later as evidence." He unlocked his phone and pressed the camera app…but nothing happened, "What the eff!? Why isn't the camera working!?"

Akira brought out his phone and pressed the camera app on his phone…and nothing happened, "Yeah, it's the same for me. I'm guessing only the navigation works here but I'm not testing it just in case." He looked back at the 'training', "Would you be able to remember any of them? So we can ask them in the real world. It seems like it's only a few of them here."

Ryuji nodded, "Yeah, I should be able to. I think there's more over there as well." They followed Ryuji who went to go check out the other 'training' areas and it got worst the more they continued walking. The next area had students running on a treadmill chasing a golden volleyball and if they gave up, they will be crushed by a roller covered in spikes what made it even worst was they were begging for water the whole time.

Akira clenched his hands in anger because even though they weren't real, it was still horrible to see and it made him want to take down Kamoshida even more if this is how he truly treats the volleyball team.

Ryuji frowned, "I know this shit happens in everyday sports…not giving water to the team for tough training…but still I'm going to make sure that this bastard pays." He went closer and looked at the slaves closely then he nodded, "Alright, I got their faces. Let's move on."

They continued on to the next one and they saw a student hanging upside down by his ankles getting hit by a volleyball being shot out of a cannon repeatedly.

Akira shook his head, "Does he whip the ball at the team in anger?" **"He probably does it when he gets angry at their poor performance…"**

Ryuji gritted his teeth in anger, "This isn't training! This is just violence!" He looked down, "And they might be going through this in real life…damn that bastard…"

Morgana was getting impatient, "Will you hurry up! The guards will be here any minute!"

Ryuji glared at him, "I know…I know…just let me get a good look at him." He did the same thing as before, "Alright, let's get the hell out of here then."

They followed after Morgana and leaving just in time because they overheard that more guards where coming since they heard no report from the one guarding the training hall.

* * *

 **Foyer**

They ran upstairs and was about to head to their secret entrance when they heard a smug distorted voice.

"Of course, it's you two again."

The two teens already knew who voice it was and they all turned towards him and it was indeed Kamoshida but he had a golden knight with a couple of regular knights with him.

Ryuji glared at him, "You! This school ain't your castle!" He then smiled, "I remember the faces of the volleyball team you currently have here and we're going to talk to them and your ass is going down!"

Akira glared at him too but was also thinking, _"So is this the real one or another imagination? Morgana said that he was the owner of this castle, so is it his otherself or what?"_ **"Maybe now's not the right time in thinking about this."**

Kamoshida had a smug look on his when Ryuji said that, "I guess it's true what they say…a barking dog seldom bites." He then had a huge grin on his face, "The rise and fall of the track star, it would make a good story."

Ryuji flinched at that knowing full well what he meant, "Fuck you! It was all because of you!"

Kamoshida laughed, "My fault? You were the traitor of the track team; it's all because of you that the track got disbanded. Just because you had to attack me ruining the other members dream. I can only imagine the pain that you caused the others because of your…selfish act of violence against me."

Ryuji flinched again, "Dammit…"

Akira glared at Kamoshida harder, "That's probably because you deserved it."

Kamoshida glared at Akira, "Look who's talking, criminal. I can see why you hang around this idiot. Because no one else will hang out you since you're a criminal..."

"That's because 'someone' leaked out that I have a 'false' criminal record."

Kamoshida laughed, "If you're thinking that it was me. Well you're wrong. It might've been Sakamoto. I mean, he does betray his friends and not only does he ruin their dreams, he acts so carefree because he doesn't care about what he did."

Ryuji stomped his foot in anger, "That's not true!"

Akira was having a hard time not going after him, "You're a piece of shit…"

Kamoshida glared at Akira, "Tch, whatever." He then smirked, "It doesn't matter anyways, since no one gives a shit about either of you two, I'm going to do everyone a favor and kill you both." He looked at the golden knight, "Kill them…"

The knights turned into two horned black beasts with Kamoshida's hair style but white.

Akira and Morgana walked in front of Ryuji and Morgana looked back at him, "Ryuji! Stand back." Ryuji nodded and ran by the entrance.

"You know what to do Arsene!" **"Of course I do!" Arsene appeared out of Akira and he dashed at one of the unicorns and axed kicked it weakening him.** Akira ran to the unicorn as well and slashed it with his dagger three times destroying it. But there was another one behind him that charged at him and then rammed him, knocking him down since the unicorns were stronger than what they faced before. **Arsene turned around and shot a dark energy ball at the shadow that attacked Akira, injuring it but he was also rammed in the back by another shadow making him kneel in pain.** Akira pulled out the medicine Ryuji gave him to heal but he got hit by another shadow knocking the medicine away.

Morgana ran towards the injured shadow that Arsene hit and slashed it with his scimitar three times, destroying it but he was rammed by another shadow from behind as well. **Zorro summoned a green tornado around the shadow slashing it but only injuring it. He was about to heal Morgana but yet another shadow rammed into him, making drop his rapier.**

Akira fell down in pain, "Damn…no matter what we do…more just keep coming…" **Arsene tried getting up but he keep getting rammed by the shadows, "We…can't give up…"** "Arsene, return…" **"I'm not giving up!"** "Arsene! Just do it…there's no point…in trying…you're just going to get injured for no reason…" **Arsene sighed knowing he was right and returned to Akira.**

The two horned beasts became knights again and the golden knight stomped on Morgana's back while Zorro went back inside him knowing that they lost.

Ryuji looked on in horror seeing Akira and Morgana keep getting attacked over and over again and went on his knees unable to do anything, "Dammit just leave them alone already, you asshole!"

Kamoshida started laughing hysterically, "You're still going to treat me with disrespect? Even after I showed you a little bit of my kindness supervising the track team?"

Ryuji slammed his fists on the ground, "That wasn't training! That was physical abuse!"

Akira looked at Ryuji in shock then in sadness, _"So that's why he hates Kamoshida so much…"_

He walked over to Akira and stomped on his back and looked over at Ryuji with a smug look on his face, "You want to know how I got rid of the track team? It was because I got rid of your coach. I was just going to break his star team member's leg as a warning."

Ryuji looked at him in shock, "What!? What the hell are you talking about!?"

Kamoshida started laughing, "Its quite simple really, because you decided to punch me and I broke your leg. Your stupid coach decided to go confront me about it. He had a sound argument so I got the principal to fire him!" Kamoshida then had a sadistic look on his face, "You see! It's because of you that the track team had been disbanded! All because you wanted to go against me! So maybe I should just break your other leg, just for fun because I can just say that it was in self defense and the best part is, is that they will believe me!"

Ryuji got on his elbows with tears starting to form in his eyes because he knew that he was right, "Dammit…am I going to lose again…" He shook his head, "I can't run anymore…the track team is gone because of this asshole…all because of me…"

Kamoshida had a shit eating grin on his face and stomped on Akira's back making him groan in pain, "After I kill these two…you're next!"

Akira looked up at Ryuji, "Ryuji!" Ryuji looked up at him, "There's no point in not fighting back! He's already ruined your life! Now's your chance to get your revenge against him and rebel against him! Show him that you're not going to take anymore of his shit!" Kamoshida stomped on him, shutting him up.

Ryuji started slowly getting up, "…you're right…"

Kamoshida looked over at Ryuji laughing, "And what are going to do? Why don't you just stand there a watch and realize that you're the reason why they're going to die because they sided with scum like you!"

Ryuji glared at Kamoshida, "No…you're the scum…" He started walking slowly to him, "You use people for your own selfish reasons, you're nothing but scum…"

Kamoshida started backing up and looking at his knights feeling power coming out of him, "What are you doing!? Silence him!"

"Ever since you broke my leg and took everything from me...you always looked down at me with that smug look on your face." Ryuji then pointed at him, "So now I'm finally going to wipe that stupid look off your face!" After Ryuji said that, he held his head in pain bringing him to his knees.

" **Arrr! About time that you finally go against that landlubber! A real pirate would've just hung him by the bootstraps by now!"**

" _W-What the eff!? W-Who are you!?"_

" **I be your otherself! You're rebellious self! Captain Kidd!"**

" _L-Like A-Arsene!? B-But W-Why are you a pirate!?"_

" **Because you lost your honor! When you lose your honor, you should just become a pirate! Since we have no honor!"**

" _A-A pirate huh? I-I like the sound of that!"_

" **Aye, glad to hear it lad! Now let's form a parley so I can give you my power and we can finally take down this scallywag as shipmates! We will raise our flag high with the skull of rebellion and steal lots of booty till we take the journey to Davey Jones locker!"**

" _Hell yeah! I'm in!"_

After Ryuji accepted Kid, a mask formed on his face. He reached for it and grasped it.

" **Now rip off the mask and let's take him to hang from the gallows!"**

"Damn right!" Ryuji proceeded to rip off the mask feeling more pain and his face was soaked with blood but then a blast of power hit him and caused a powerful wave crashing into Kamoshida and the knights making them stumble backwards. He's clothes changed into his rebellious outfit and Captain Kidd appeared behind him. He looked down seeing that his clothes changed and was feeling power, "Right on…Wassup up, persona! This effing rocks!" **"Arrr, let's get that scallywag!"** He glared at Kamoshida, "Now that I have this power! It's payback time!"

Kamoshida looked at him with irritation, "Tch, you have one as well…" He looked at the golden knight, "Take them out."

Akira quickly got up and ran to the medicine still in pain and drank it. He started feeling the healing effects and then walked to Ryuji smiling, "Look at you, you got yourself a persona." He raised his fist towards him. **"Pleasure to meet you, Kidd."**

Ryuji bump his fist against Akira's, "Hell yeah and it's thanks to you!" **"Good to meet ya, matey!"**

Morgana ran to Ryuji, "Wow, you actually have one too, so you won't be useless after all." **"Hmph, unlike Arsene, I already know that I'm better than this Kidd."**

Ryuji scoffed at Morgana, "You're damn right! I'm not anymore." **"A landlubber is better than you!"**

The golden knight marched over to them, "Silence you peasants; I will kill you for going against my king!" The golden knight transformed into Elgor.

Ryuji laughed, "Shaddup! So Kamoshida imagines me being a troublemaker huh? Well let me just show you just how much of a troublemaker I can be!" He pointed at the knight, "Blast him away, Captain Kidd!" **"Aye, I got it matey!" Kidd charged up his arm cannon with electricity.**

Elgor spun his lance in the air and slammed the blunt part down then two more of the two-horned beasts showed up, "What are you going to do now? I can just keep summoning more guards!"

 **Arsene appeared out of Akira, "Easy, destroy them." Arsene dashed towards the shadow and punched him hard in the snout, injuring it.**

 **Zorro appeared out of Morgana, "I'm better at destroying them!" Zorro put his sword in front of him and a green aura formed around him making him quicker, he dashed towards the other two horned beast and cut it in a z-motion, injuring it as well.**

 **After Arsene and Zorro finished attacking the other shadows, Kidd finally got done charging, he then shot a cannonball at Elgor making it blow up into an electric explosion destroying the two beasts and severely injuring Elgor.**

Ryuji smiled, "Nice one, Kidd!" **"That's what happens when you mess with a pirate!"** He looked over at Morgana and Akira, "Let's do that all-out attack move!" Morgana and Akira nodded, "Let's rock and roll!" They attacked the shadow relentlessly and afterwards, Ryuji and Kidd went back-to-back with Ryuji doing the rock and roll hand symbol with his tongue out and Kidd crossed his arms with his head up crackling and the shadow was destroyed.

Akira walked over to Ryuji putting a hand on his shoulder, "Nice going Ryuji." **"You're pretty strong, Kidd."**

Ryuji smiled at Akira, "Thanks man, it felt good to finally be able to help you." **"Thanks Captain!"** He looked over at Kamoshida, "How'd you like that one!? Even if you apologize! I ain't ever forgiving you!"

Kamoshida laughed darkly not caring about what happened, "You really think that I'm afraid of you now? How many times do I have to tell you…I'm king of the castle and no one is going to take that away…I even have someone that agrees with me so…" He looked over at Akira, "Obediently. Come to me, my princess!"

Everyone had a look of shock on their faces when he said princess.

Akira looked around and then looked up with a look of pure shock on his face from what he saw. The dirty blonde twin tails was all he had to see to know who it was and it was Ann Takamaki…in lingerie and with cat ears, "T-Takamaki!?"

 **Arsene put a hand on his shoulder, "Calm down, remember it's not the real her, it's just his…fantasy."**

Ryuji shook his head out of shock, "What the eff!? Is that really Takamaki!?" **"That one blond lass? Why is she even with this scallywag?"**

Morgana's eyes lit up, "Meowwww, she's so beautiful!"

 **Even Zorro got excited, "You must take her now!"**

Akira looked down at Morgana, "This is definitely not the real her."

 **Arsene shook his head, "We don't even know her that well and we already know it's not her, that's how ridiculous this is."**

"Did you call me, my King!" The fake Ann said in a ditzy voice. She then quickly walked downstairs and latched onto Kamoshida.

Kamoshida put a hand on her chin, "Of course I did, and these peasants keep going against me and keep forgetting that I am King. Unlike you, my princess."

Fake Ann scoffed, "That's because they can never measure up to you." She looked over at Akira, "Especially that one with the white mask." She rolled her eyes, "What? Are you too ugly to show your face to my King?"

Kamoshida started laughing, "You hear that criminal!? She is mine and mine only, I control her!"

Ryuji stomped his foot in anger, "What the hell pervert! Is your mind that sick!?" **"Arrr, he must only see her as a wench!"**

Akira couldn't believe what he was hearing from this fake Ann and then suddenly realized that the reason why she was talking this certain way and it was because Kamoshida is jealous of him so much that he imagined her looking down on him and that made him laugh, "Wow Kamoshida! Are you that jealous of me talking to Ann that much, that you have to imagine Ann thinking that I don't measure up to you? You really are pathetic!"

Kamoshida glared harshly at Akira, "What was that you pathetic criminal! I'm jealous of you!?" He then smirked at him, "No…because I control her completely and I'll show you!" He shrugged off fake Ann's arm and then looked at her. He gave her a sadistic smile and then backhanded her hard making her fall to the floor with a yelp.

Ryuji looked at Kamoshida with anger, "Why the hell did you do that!?"

 **Captain Kidd stomp his foot in anger, "This son of a biscuit eater deserves more than the gallows!"**

Akira was seething in rage, "You piece of shit!" He knew that she wasn't real but it looked exactly like Ann which made him angrier. He started walking toward Kamoshida and was about to attack him when Arsene stopped him and he looked back at him, "Why did you stop me!?"

 **Arsene nodded at Fake Ann, "Look, she's not upset or scared; she looks like she enjoyed it."**

"What?" Akira looked back at the fake Ann and realized that Arsene was right, _"That's messed up…"_

The fake Ann got up slowly and put an arm around his shoulders while rubbing his chest, "I love it when you hit me hard like that, my King!"

Kamoshida laughed at both them, "You see now!? I control her and not only her; I control everyone in this school! Because everyone wants to be loved by me since I took the volleyball team to the national!." He then shook his head, "Well everyone except you two idiots…" He then turned around, "Get rid of them!" He summoned a bunch of knights.

Morgana looked at the two teens, "We need to retreat since we're surrounded and we don't have enough energy!" **"I hate fleeing from battle but sometimes we must, Amigos!"**

Ryuji shook his head, "Hell no! We can't just run away!" **"A pirate never runs away from a battle!"**

Akira put a hand on Ryuji's shoulder, "Don't worry, we'll come back." **"We won't let him get away with this."**

Ryuji sighed relenting, "Ngh…fine." He looked back at Kamoshida, "We'll be back, jackass! We'll expose what you're doing!"

Kamoshida laughed, "Go ahead, I'm getting bored of torturing these slaves…come back whenever you want, you may die though."

Morgana shook his head at Ryuji, "Don't listen to him; we need to get out of here!" Akira and Ryuji nodded and they left to their secret entrance while there personas went inside them.

* * *

 **Outside the Castle**

Ryuji was leaning over panting out of breath having a hard time running from healing his broken leg. Once he caught his breath, he looked at his new get up again, "Man! I can't believe I have a persona too!" **"Aye, even though it took you forever to awaken me."** "Dude, how was I even supposed to awaken to you if this otherworld didn't exist before?" **"I already told you lad, I'm your otherself. You could have become like me anytime you liked but you never did."**

Akira nodded, "That's because he needed a push." **"Sometimes that's all you need."**

Morgana looked at him suspiciously, "I wanted to ask this but how are you able to understand everything that happened so easily?" **"He's cheating obliviously!"**

Akira shrugged, "It's not that hard to understand because I saw it with my own eyes. Also, it's obvious that Kamoshida has control of this school enough that he thinks he's king of it just from what I saw earlier and how he took the volleyball team to the nationals."

Ryuji nodded at him, "Yeah." He then smiled, "But now we can go talk to the volleyball team members that he imagined here tomorrow since I recognized their faces and we can probably take Kamoshida down now!" **"Sounds good to me matey!"**

Akira smiled at him and nodded, "Yeah, we'll take him down." **"Especially if that's how he treats woman and his volleyball team."** He looked over at Morgana, "Before we go, there's something I wanted to ask about Kamoshida. How come Kamoshida doesn't remember us doing this? Is he a figment of Kamoshida's imagination, his own cognition?"

Morgana shook his head at him, "Nope, he's Kamoshida's shadow."

"Kamoshida's shadow? What do you mean by that?"

"A shadow is the true self that is suppressed, a side of one's personality they don't want to see."

Akira put a hand on his chin, "That pretty much confirms it then. I just can't believe that everyone doesn't see it…" **"That's because people rather see a lie than see the truth."**

Ryuji nodded, "That's why we both need to take him down! So we can expose him for who he really is!"

Akira nodded at Ryuji, "Yeah, definitely." He looked back at Morgana, "Alright Morgana, we'll come back tomorrow. Thanks for your help."

Morgana shook his head, "Wait a minute! I helped you out here so that means you have to help me get my real form back! Just like you promise!"

Ryuji looked at him confused, "I don't remember us promising anything." **"Are you trying to hornswoggle us, cat!?"**

Akira sighed, "I'm with Ryuji, we never promised anything but since you helped us out, we'll help you out." **"Sometimes you're too nice, Akira."**

Morgana meowed happily, "I knew I can count on you! Unlike Ryuji!" **"We don't need those two anyways, they're nothing but annoyances."**

Ryuji scoffed, "I'm too tired to argue with you…" **"I don't even care to argue with them anymore."**

 **Yoshinoya**

Once they got back from the otherworld, Ryuji wanted to get something to eat since he was hungry and Akira realized that he was hungry as well. So Ryuji took him to a place called Yoshinoya and they were currently waiting for their orders.

Ryuji leaned his elbows on the counter, "Man, I can't believe all this that happened. Not just about gaining a persona but the whole otherworld. A place where your desires become real? I'll say it again; we're living in anime…" **"How are we living in a reading material?"**

Akira nodded, "And the worst part is, is what Kamoshida might be doing to the volleyball team..." **"What's a manga?**

Ryuji shook his head, "Yeah, no doubt. Treating human beings as slaves..that's beyond messed up. We just need to wait till tomorrow to see if it's true, I guess." **"It be these weird small pictures on paper."**

Akira nodded, "Yeah." He then looked over at Ryuji, "I wonder if what he was telling the truth about who leaked my criminal record." **"Small pictures? So like a picture book."**

Ryuji looked down, "Probably…he was right about what happened with the track team. It was all because of me…" **"Aye, that what it be."**

Akira shook his head, "So what did happen? If you don't mind me asking." **"And here I thought that he said mango."**

Ryuji sighed, "Kamoshida offered to supervise our practice because he took our volleyball team to the nationals and the principal thought he can make our team better. But that asshole treated us like crap every practice. So one day, he somehow found out about what happened to my mom and me so I got so pissed off and punched him. After I did, he broke my leg and said that he would get away with it by saying it was self-defense." **"I rather be living in a ship though…"**

Akira looked at Ryuji in sadness, "And that's when he disbanded the track team." **"Also, becoming more popular because of what happened with the track team."**

Ryuji sighed, "Yeah but I didn't know it was because he got our coach fired..." He looked over at Akira, "But yeah, that's why hate doesn't describe what I feel about him." **"Back in my pirate days, we would just kill people who went against us."**

Akira nodded and looked down, "Yeah, I know how you feel…" **"This is different times Kidd, you can't just kill people who did you wrong anymore…well not legally. Besides, I don't condone killing people, no matter how much they deserve it."**

Ryuji looked at him confused, "You do?" Then his eyes went wide, "Oh yeahhh, your false criminal record." **"Arrrr, the world has gotten soft it seems…"**

Akira nodded, "Yeah." He then went to explain everything that led to his false criminal record, "And then I had to transfer here because they expelled me…" **"I rather have the world go soft then just start killing each other for now reason. But sometimes we have to do it when there's no other chose…"**

Ryuji slammed his fist on the counter making the other patrons jump, "That's such bullshit! You get punished for doing the right thing! And that asshole got away with it!" **"Shiver me timbers!? You see Captain? That's why we need to just kill the scallywags that do us wrong!"**

Akira sighed, "Yeah…so that's why I know how it feels to lose everything as well…" **"And what will happen if he did? He's innocent, if he killed the person who did this to him, then it will just make him actually guilty. Same goes for Ryuji too."**

Ryuji sighed, "Damn man." He then smiled, "Y'know, we're kind of the same; we lost everything because of some jackass." **"Aye, you be right, I guess killing isn't always the answer. That's why you be the Captain."**

Akira smiled, "Yeah, I guess we are." He held out his hand towards him, "I guess that means we should be friends then." **"I'm glad that you understand and that's why we're shipmates."**

Ryuji nodded, "Yeah, we should!" He grasped Akira's hand and shook it. **"Aye, that we be."**

Akira felt some power flowing through him while they shook hands, _"Huh? I guess I get power making new friends."_

After they finished their meals, they exited the restaurant.

Ryuji stretched while yawning, "Man, I'm tired…I think I'm gonna head home."

Akira nodded, "Yeah, same here. It's been a crazy day."

Ryuji turned towards him, "Yeah, it was pretty nuts." He then brought out his phone, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot, you want to exchange numbers and chat id?"

Akira smiled and nodded, "Sure." He brought out his phone and they exchanged information.

After they exchanged information, Ryuji put his phone away and nodded, "Alright man, I'll see you tomorrow and we can start talking to the volleyball team to get the truth." **"See ya, captain!"**

Akira nodded, "Yeah, definitely." **"See you tomorrow, Kidd."**

 **Ryuji's Apartment**

Ryuji opened the door to his apartment and saw his mom on the couch sleeping. He sighed because he was used to seeing this because of how hard she work trying to provide for both of them since she was still in her work outfit. He tried to be quiet but he accidently closed the door a little too hard waking up his mom.

Ms. Sakamoto yawned and looked over to the entrance seeing that it was her son making her smile, "Hey honey, how was school?"

Ryuji smiled, "Hey mom, sorry for waking you up. School was pretty great; I actually made a friend!"

That made her smile more, "Really? I'm glad to hear that!" She got up into sitting position and fixed her black shoulder length hair, "Did you eat already?"

Ryuji nodded, "Yeah, I just got back from eating."

Ms. Sakamoto nodded, "Okay then."

Ryuji sat on the seat next to her and looked down still feeling the shame of losing his chance at going to college, "Hey mom, I'm sorry about losing my chance at getting a track scholarship for school…"

Ms. Sakamoto shook her head, "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't care about that. The only reason why I wanted you to do track so badly was because you were happy and that's all that matters to me."

Ryuji shook his head, "But that's unfair to you…"

Ms. Sakamoto laughed, "What's unfair? That I want you to be happy?"

"Well yeah, you work so much and I just go to school…"

"And? Maybe I'm happy taking care of you. Like I said before, just seeing you happy makes me happy because you are my son." Ms. Sakamoto looked down, "Just promise me that you won't be like your father."

Ryuji gritted his teeth in anger hearing about his father, "Hell no, I won't be like that asshole!"

Ms. Sakamoto smiled, "Good."

Ryuji sighed thinking about his dad, "I always wanted to ask this by why did he even do that to us?"

She looked down in sadness and shame, "I didn't want to tell you this when you were younger but I think you're old enough to know." She then sighed, "I was pregnant with you when I was around eighteen and me and your father were both excited about it. But once you were born, we had to work a lot and we would have no free time. It slowly started to get to your father and he started drinking and becoming angry because of the stress." She then started crying, "That's when your father came home one night drunk and that's when he went after me and you…"

Ryuji looked down shaking his head, "So it was my fault that I ruined your lives too..."

Ms. Sakamoto eyes went wide and she turned towards him putting her hands on his shoulder, "Don't you ever say that again! You are not the reason for what happened! It was all your father's fault and I will never regret having you!" She hugged him, "Because I'm always happy to have had you! You're everything to me and I don't care how much I have to work to take care of you!"

Ryuji hugged her back, "Thanks for everything mom…"

"Always, my dear son."

 **Thirty minutes later**

Ryuji walked into his room and sat on his bed thinking what his mom said, "I have to do something to help her…"

" **We can always still booty in the otherworld so you can help your mother!"**

Ryuji's eyes went wide, "You're right! Morgana said that we're thieves right? Then maybe we can start stealing some treasure in Shadow Kamoshida's castle to make some money so I don't have to be useless to mom!" He then looked down, "Wait…didn't Morgana say that everything in that castle supposed to be imaginary?"

" **Aye, he did say that, we should try as to do anyways, like real pirates!"**

"Yeah! Then maybe I can finally be useful to mom and make her life easier!" Ryuji brought out his phone, "Maybe I should call Akira. I need to thank him for helping me." He dialed Akira's number and put the phone to his ear.

"Yo, is this Akira?"

A voice he didn't recognize answered the phone, "Nope, this is not the Akira you're looking for."

Ryuji looked at his phone confused seeing if he dialed the wrong number

"Are you sure this is him?"

"Maybe baby."

He heard Akira and Arsene laughing, "Dude! Quit messing with me!"

"Sorry, I had to. So what's up?"

"Nothing much, I was just saying thanks for helping me out today."

"Of course, but you're the one who saved our lives so we should be thanking you. So thank you, matey." **"Yes, thank you for helping us, Kidd"**

Ryuji smiled to himself, "Yeah, I guess I did." **"You're welcome! Captain!"**

"Now you can finally get your payback and if no one talks then we just have to beat Shadow Kamoshida so bad that his real self realizes the errors of his ways." **"Would definitely enjoy that."**

Ryuji laughed, "Yeah man, I would make sure he felt all my anger I feel for him." **"Just hang him by the boot straps and shot him over and over again like he does with that one slave!"**

Akira laughed, "I wouldn't doubt that. By the way, how are you liking Kidd? I heard he wants to steal some booty."

"I'm just hoping he means treasure instead of girls when he says booty." **"I may be talking about lasses or wenches as well!"**

Akira laughed again, "Well, they sound both good. Anyways, I'll talk to you later, we need to rest up for tomorrow." **"Good day, Kidd."**

Ryuji nodded, "Yeah, see ya tomorrow." **"See ya, Captain."** He hung up the phone and laid down smiling, "Finally, I can get rid of that asshole after dealing with his shit for so long."

" **Are you going to try to be a captain again and get your crew back after we get rid of that scallywag?"**

"Don't know, I doubt they even want me to join them again."

" **If they be your real crew then they would accept you as their captain again."**

Ryuji smiled, "Yeah, that would be cool. Maybe after we take Kamoshida down, I can start training again and hopefully get a chance to get my chance at a scholarship again."

 **[End Notes: This is going to be a long end note because I have a lot to explain about this chapter but first, I'm sorry if the battle scenes are bad, I'm not the greatest battle writer. Anyways, since Akira knows about the app because of Igor, he tells Ryuji about it and so they can go to the metaverse instead of just looking for the 'castle'. So when before Ryuji gains Kidd, Kamoshida explains how he actually got rid of the track team in this story unlike in the game where they hinted at it so it's basically my interpretation on what happened based off of what he says in the game. After Ryuji gains Kidd, he remembers gaining the clothes because he looks down at them unlike Ann. Speaking of Ann, I'm going to change Ann's awakening in A Joker's Panther so it's like how Akira and Ryuji talked to their personas. Oh and the part with fake Ann, that wasn't really an AnnxAkira moment, it was more showing how much control Kamoshida thinks he has over her that he can even hit her and she would still obey him. Now one big thing in this chapter, is Ryuji's mom, since we don't know anything about her besides blaming herself for what Ryuji did in his last school and that she and I think Ryuji was too was abused by his father. So I made a story for what happened with the father. But she's basically timid because of what happened with the father and yes, you'll be seeing her more in this story especially when Hifumi comes into Ryuji's life.]**

 **Reviews:**

 **Novice4129: Why thank you for that. I'm just going to change it enough were I leave out that doesn't move the story along or the scenes are still the same and I will tell you about it in the Author's Notes.**


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